Batten pocket for sailboat sails



JAAAAAAA AAMAMNMAAAAAM D. L. BEVER ETAL BATTEN POCKET FOR SAILBOAT SAILSFiled April 18, 1968 DONALD L. BEVEI? JOHN W. BENNETT INVENTORS ARK/TAFIG. 3

May 20, 1969 FIG. 4

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United States Patent 3,444,834 BATTEN POCKET FOR SAILBOAT SAILS DonaldL. Bever and John W. Bennett, San Diego, Calif, assignors to North SailsFiled Apr. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 722,354 Int. Cl. B63h 9/06 US. Cl. 114-1022 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pocket to retain battens on thesails of sailboats is provided with a transverse batten entry slot andelastic means to prevent loss of batten through the slot.

Background of the invention As is well known in the art, battens areretained on the sails of sailboats by being placed within pockets. Thepockets are usually formed by sewing a rectangular piece of the sailmaterial onto the sail. A slot is provided for inserting and removingthe batten.

Customarlly the slots or pocket openings are provided along a lengthwiseedge of the pocket. Inserting and removing the batten causes significantwear and tear on the pocket. Unavoidable force is applied to the sidesof the pocket through manual manipulation of the batten. The batten mustenter and be removed from the edge thereof. Eventual tearing of clothand ripping of pocket stitching is not uncommon.

Another usual method of retaining battens involves openings in the veryoutboard end of the pockets with covering flaps over this end. Tiestrings or snap fasteners hold the battens in place. Such method resultsin undesirable friction, windage and drag in the leech area of the sail.The addition of such materials results in production costs and in anunsmooth product.

Summary This novel pocket features the slot for batten entry and removalbeing placed at right angles to the lengthwise edges of the pocket. Suchslot is parallel to the ends of the pocket in the leech area. Within thepocket at the opposite end thereof a portion of elastic material issecured for retaining the batten in suflicient tension to cause thebatten to abut the outer edge of the pocket. Accidental emergence of thebatten through the easily accessible slot is thusly avoided.

Brief description of the drawing Referring to the drawing forming a parthereof:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing an empty pocket on the sail.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section detail of that portion of the pocketcontaining the elastic material.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section detail of the opposite portion of the pocketcontaining the slot.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing the pocket with batten in place.

Description of preferred embodiments In the drawing wherein likenumerals represent like parts throughout, the number 1 represents apocket surface. It is preferably a rectangular piece of the samematerial as that of which the sail 8 is made. When sewed upon the sail,it, together with the underlying sail portion form the batten pocket.

The numeral 2 represents a novel transverse pocket slot. It preferablyspans from one side of the pocket to the other, near and parallel to theend of the pocket proximate to the sail leech tabling 3. Preferredconstruction includes reinforced stitching 5 of tabling 3 onto resultantflap 10 as illustrated in FIGURE 3. Other reinforced stitching 5- is asillustrated.

Directing attention now to the opposite end of the pocket, item 4 isnovel elastic means formed of ordinary elastic, easily stretchable,material available on the open market. It is best loop shaped with itstwo ends secured to the inner sides of the pocket. Upon entering slot 2,usual batten 7 forces the elastic loop in the direction of the arrows ofFIGURE 2 to position indicated by the numeral 9. After the entire battenpasses through the slot, the operator releases it. It is forced andretained in the direction of the arrows of FIGURE 4 and rests in theposition shown in FIGURE 3. The batten is removed by manually reversingthe process.

Reinforcement material 6 of the same substance as the sail and pocketprovides resilience at the place shown in FIGURE 2.

Although preferred embodiments are shown and described, it is understoodthat a person skilled in the art may make obvious changes which willfall within the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A batten pocket for sailboat sails comprising two surfaces inparallel space relationship forming the sides thereof; an openingassociated therewith for admitting a batten and elastic means secured tothe interior of said sides for retaining the batten in position withinthe pocket.

2. The claim according to claim 1 above wherein the opening is atransverse slot cut in one surface of the pocket distal to the elasticmeans.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,831,447 4/1958 Hanna 114-402TRYGVE M. BLIX, Primary Examiner.

